Special Adviser to the African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes, Ambassador Said Djinnit, recalls the nightmares of a childhood under colonial rule in his native Algeria. With a chilling story of the moment a French soldier threatened to kill his father, he illustrates how those injustices propelled him into a lifetime of mediation. Among the many tales of the untold, he recounts being mistaken for a French agent during his mission to restore democracy in Comoros following a dramatic coup, as well as persuading a military general in Guinea to step down shortly after seizing power.